1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a bed covering apparatus that is for use for a vehicle including a bed provided at the rear of the vehicle and having an open upper portion and a tailgate openably and closably provided at the bed, and includes a cover member which covers the bed and is detachably provided on the bed.
2. Description of the Related Art
Japanese Unexamined Patent Publication No. 64-56281 discloses a conventional cover for covering a bed of a pickup truck with side walls, a front end and a rear end. The cover comprises a plurality of cover panels, a rear cover panel which extends across the side walls for covering a truck bed area adjacent to the rear end of the truck bed, and a second cover panel for covering the area of the rear end. The rear panel has a forwardly projecting channel-shaped hinge portion. A rearwardly projecting hinge portion of the second panel and the forwardly projecting hinge portion of the rear panel are so interlocked as to provide a hinged connection between those panels. A fixation mechanism for each panel to detachably and selectively fix the cover panels to the side walls of the truck bed is provided. Accordingly, when one of the cover panels is fixed to a predetermined position over the bed of the truck, the other panels can pivot around the hinged connection and be opened to expose the bed area of the truck below the other covers. The cover further comprises a fixation mechanism which fixes the panels to the side walls of the truck.
The conventional cover is for the pickup truck with the fixation mechanism provided on the rear end thereof. To prevent theft, the cover is closed before placements of the cover panels, and closes the bed as the cover panels are fixed by engagement of the fixation mechanisms of the individual cover panels with the side walls. Accordingly, for a pickup truck which does not have a fixation mechanism at the rear end thereof, the rear end is not fixed by just fixing the cover panels, so that it is difficult to take measures for theft.
The invention has been made in view of the above-described circumstance, and it is an object of the invention to provide a bed covering apparatus which locks the bed of a truck even if the truck does not have fixation means.